Held in Singapore on 8th November 2019, ELDEX aimed to create an effective marketplace for international silver economy suppliers of eldercare products, technology, and services.
In the opening address, Ms Cheng Li Hui, Member of Parliament, Tampines GRC and North East Adviser and member of the PAP seniors Group, she highlighted that in the Singapore population there is about 15 percent who are aged 65 and above, with number projected to increase to 25 percent by 2030.
“ELDEX Asia is a private sector initiative that aims to broaden the variety and quality of care for our growing population of elderly in Singapore. It is thus very encouraging that more and more private sector bodies take up the mantle and help to socialise the issues related to ageing and aim to promote the importance of positive, active ageing.” Said Ms Cheng Li Hui.
The conference brought together a wide variety of partners who collaborated in different aspects to provide a well-rounded coverage of the core segments covered at ELDEX. These six core segments include: lifestyle and wellness, architecture and fittings, healthcare and rehabilitation, technology, digital and IT, finance and insurance, and the great beyond.
Some of these partners include SkillsFuture Singapore as the Skills Partners together with training partners such as HMI Institute of Health Sciences, and Tsao Foundation – to showcase training programmes available for the elderly. Nanyang Polytechnic’s School of Health and Social Sciences also curated a feature area – Therapeutic Living Spaces at ELDEX. Together with ten of its partners and space transformation specialist, IM Space Pte Ltd, the feature area showcased how smart technology when incorporated into living spaces can make them suitable for the elderly to carry out daily tasks with ease.
Another highlight of the conference was the Food for Elders Pavilion that displayed new products developed to meet the unique need and preferences of elderly consumers. The products include a range of fortified functional foods to a reduced salt option of soy sauce for the elderly. This pavilion was an initiative under FoodInnovate, a multi-agency effort led by Enterprise Singapore. [APBN]